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Winnie in Winter
Winnie in Winter (ISBN 0192726455; republished in 2016 as Winnie and Wilbur in Winter ISBN 0192748300) is a children's picture book of thirty-two pages which tells a humorous fantasy story. It was written by the Australian-born author Valerie Thomas and illustrated by the Zimbabwean-born artist Korky Paul. It was first published in 1996. It is a sequel to the 1987 book Winnie the Witch and the second in a series of seventeen Winnie the Witch picture books. Winnie the Witch, the book's title character and protagonist, decides that she does not like snow, ice or winter. She casts a spell which makes it summer at her house and in her garden. However, her spell has unintended consequences. Although the word "Christmas" does not appear anywhere in the text, Santa Claus can be seen flying through the air on his sleigh in several of the illustrations. In the story's final illustration, he can be seen on Winnie's roof. It can therefore be supposed that the action takes place on Christmas Eve. Plot It is winter. Winnie the Witch looks out at her garden that is covered in snow and ice. Her big black cat Wilbur comes into the house. He is cold and his feet are wet. Both Winnie and Wilbur decide that they do not like winter. Winnie takes action. She goes out into her garden, waves her magic wand and says the magic word, "Abracadabra". Although it is still winter everywhere else, the sky is bright blue and the sun is shining above Winnie's house. In her garden, it is a hot summer's day. For a short while, Winnie and Wilbur enjoy sitting in the sunshine. Winnie becomes a little concerned when she notices that her flowers, which had suddenly grown, are starting to wilt in the heat. The heat also wakes the little monsters which live in Winnie's garden from hibernation. They complain that it is too early for summer and that they want to go back to sleep. A strange noise grabs Winnie's attention. She realizes that the sound is being made by a large group of people. The people are all running towards her garden to enjoy the warm weather. There are soon so many people in the garden that there is no room for Winnie and Wilbur, who have to go back inside the house. The people trample on Winnie's flowers, throw their trash on her lawn and use her pond as a swimming pool. When Winnie hears the music of an ice cream van in her garden, she cannot stand the situation any longer. She goes back outside, waves her wand again and repeats the magic word. It becomes winter in Winnie's garden once more, all the people leave, the little monsters fall asleep again and the flowers go back underground. Before she goes to bed, Winnie has a cup of hot chocolate and a toasted muffin. In her nice warm bed, Winnie realizes that winter can be fun too in its own way. See also *''Winnie and Wilbur Meet Santa'' External links *[http://winnie-the-witch.com/book/winnie-in-winter Winnie in Winter on the official Winnie the Witch website.] Category:Childrens Books Category:Comedy Category:Fantasy Category:Christmas stories